Gordon P. DeWolf, Jr., Ph.D.

West Brookfield – Dr. Gordon P. DeWolf, Jr., 92, of West Brookfield died on

Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at his home.

He was born in Lowell, son of the late Gordon P. and Charlotte Park. He was married to Ellen Kingsbury for 55 years until her death in 2010.

He leaves his brother, Brenton DeWolf; his daughter, Martha DeWolf; his sons, Rick DeWolf and Nat DeWolf; his daughter-in-law Ann Schmidt; and his grandchildren, Eli and Madeline.

Dr. DeWolf was a botanist. He graduated from Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMASS), earned a Master's Degree from Tulane University and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Malaya where he earned a second Master’s Degree. While pursuing a Ph.D. at Cornell University he was accepted as a research student at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK. Dr. DeWolf served as Senior Scientific Officer (Colonial Staff) at Kew, the Royal Botanical Garden in London (1959-1961). He was Associate Professor of Biology and later Professor of Biology at Georgia Southern College, Statesboro, Georgia (1961-1967). He was Horticultural Taxonomist (1967-1969) and Horticulturist (1970-1974) at the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. From 1975 to 1990, he was Coordinator of the Horticulture Program at Massachusetts Bay Community College. He joined the New England Botanical Club in 1949, sat on its Council from 1972 to 1978, and was its President from 1976 to 1978. Dr. DeWolf was made a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1960. While living in Statesboro, at great risk to their own lives and safety, he and Ellen were active in the local Civil Rights organization.

At his request, funeral services will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the NAACP at www.naacp.org/donate or PFLAG at https://pflag.org.

Varnum Funeral Home, Inc., 43 East Main St., in West Brookfield is assisting his family with arrangements.

An online guest book is available at varnumfuneralhome.com

To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Gordon P. DeWolf, Jr., Ph.D., please visit our Tree Store.